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Airline pilot UV radiation exposure measured

DEC 18, 2014
Physics Today

Telegraph : A study earlier this year revealed a higher rate of skin cancer in pilots than in the general population. A new study by Martina Sanlorenzo of the University of California, San Francisco, and her colleagues shows that every 56 minutes that airline pilots spend at a normal cruising altitude of 30 000 ft (9144 m) exposes them to as much UV radiation as a 20-minute session in an average tanning bed. They measured UV-A exposure at ground level and in cockpits during flights to Los Vegas, Nevada, in April 2014. For every 2952 ft (900 m) of altitude gained above sea level, the radiation exposure increased by 15%. At the typical cruising altitude for commercial aircraft, UV levels were more than twice those on the ground.

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